


Slight

by AllTheFeels



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Hydra (Marvel), Identity Issues, M/M, More characters will be added as Slight is updated, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-29 16:09:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11444388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllTheFeels/pseuds/AllTheFeels
Summary: He knows three things.1. Steven Grant Rogers was his mission.2. Bucky Barnes inhabited the Asset's body prior to his time as the Asset.3. Steven Grant Rogers is looking for Bucky Barnes, which means he is chasing down the Asset.





	Slight

**Author's Note:**

> This is set after CA:TWS, but prior to Civil War. Enjoy!

"I have heard the future."

The phrase is tattooed on The Asset's upper thigh, letters thin and shaky, done by a trembling hand. When he traces them, he sees a flash of brown skin, of fearful eyes. He does not know what it means.

He knows three things.

1\. Steven Grant Rogers was his mission.  
2\. Bucky Barnes inhabited the Asset's body prior to his time as the Asset.  
3\. Steven Grant Rogers is looking for Bucky Barnes, which means he is chasing down the Asset.

The Asset spends most of his time in homeless shelters. He keeps his head down, doesn't talk, and whenever his profile gets too large, he takes to the tunnels beneath the City. They are, for the most part, dry, and cool. Most importantly, nobody is in the tunnels beneath the City except for the Asset, which makes them safe.

At the homeless shelters, if his Brain decides to turn on, it can be dangerous. He once woke up to a white light and could feel the switching clicking upwards before the Asset realized--- it was a little girl, doing her homework by flashlight. Not a threat, he determined, but laid awake, listening for any odd noises, any indicators that she was dangerous.

The Asset relies on his hearing. In the tunnels beneath the City, he mostly hears the skittering of rats and the clattering of thousands of feet walking above him. He's turned off the sound of the subway, otherwise the Asset fears he would go mad. The shelters are harder to deal with; there are voices echoing, shouting, or whispering at nearly all hours. Many of the people within the shelter walls are struggling as well, and the Asset will never stop waking up with his blood running cold when he hears the sound of a child screaming coming from a grown woman's mouth.

He knows that sound, somewhere within the Asset's files. The sound of raw pain, the childlike screeches and whines of someone suffering. The Asset almost thinks it was the man Steven Grant Rogers is tracking down, but if it was that man, then the Asset is only in a greater danger. He cannot allow himself to be compromised.

He thinks that perhaps his Words compromise him, but he cannot bring himself to remove them.

"I have heard the future," He mouths, touching his thigh as an image flashes by, a hand brushing against the sharp bones of his wrists.

The Words were never something special. They were simply a part of his body, moving as smooth and natural as his flesh arm, and, eventually, his metal arm as well. He recalls pain, distant but still there, at the thoughts of when his metal arm did not move as his own. The Words never hurt, at the very least, not that he remembers. The only baggage they bring with them are the little flashes--- flickers of a few different images, but all of the same man. The Asset thinks he may have been assigned to him, that this man may have been his mission, just as Steven Grant Rogers was.

Steven Grant Rogers was always smart. The Asset knows this, the message coming to him clear as glass, but he does not know why. He does know that this is an inconceivable. His Mission had started to appear at the shelters, and, after the third time, the Asset officially moved Below.

The tunnels aren't bad at all. He's survived much worse, and the occasional trips to the surface are not enough to draw the attention of Steven Grant Rogers. The Tunnels Beneath the City gradually fade into just one word: Below.

Below is his home, and, despite the darkness and wet chill, it is where the Asset feels safe. Noises echo in Below, making it easy for him to detect any visitors or scavengers. Most importantly, Below reminds him of the Base.

The Base was cold, and the Asset always felt a slight dampness during the beginning of his memories, though he was never able to determine why. The Base was larger, and sometimes brighter, but it did have the same mazelike quality to it. The Asset never knew where he was when he awoke in the Base, only that he was in the Base.

The Base is where his words were put into his skin. The memories of the Base lurk behind his ears and under his ribs like a viper, ready to strike. A memory, a flash of wire glasses and long fingers flits by.

 

The Asset looks up--- there is an unnatural sloshing noise coming from the Tunnels, coming from Below. He does not run. The man who walks through Below has straw hair and strong hands; he slows his pace and extends his hands. No weapons, The Asset notes.

 

Before the man can open his mouth, The Asset knows who he is. The man is his mission.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey kids! This will be updated a bit sporadically, as I'm having to work around a rough bout with my health. Also, you may notice the quote that is tattoed on Bucky is from the podcast Limetown. While this is not a direct crossover to Limetown, I do intend to incorporate some of the elements of Limetown into Slight. Thank you so much for reading and let me know how I'm doing!   
> -CJ


End file.
